Coronavirus: in South Korea, a QR Code to go to a nightclub

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Coronavirus: in South Korea, a QR Code to go to a nightclub

South Korea is testing a new tracing system to prevent new outbreaks of contamination. The device is slated to be extended next week to nightclubs, gyms or places of worship.

In its fight against the coronavirus epidemic, South Korea is chaining technological initiatives. According to Les Echos, the country has been testing a new tracking system since this week, this time based on the collection of QR codes. The establishments of 19 preselected places in Seoul, Incheon and Daejeon ask their customers for this little digital sesame, previously downloaded on a dedicated application.

Once scanned, the code remains stored for four weeks in a database used by the health authorities, before being deleted. If a Covid-19 infection is discovered, this same database allows you to quickly contact all individuals who have visited a defined area over the past fifteen days, to encourage them to be tested, or even to 'isolate.

The country has in recent days identified several centers of infection around particularly busy establishments, including one in a church in the Gangnam district, in the heart of Seoul.

Soon in karaokes and concert halls

The test currently focuses on nightclubs, restaurants, cinemas, libraries, places of worship and also concerns a hospital. However, it is ultimately bound to be extended to the national level. So far, and to trace back to potentially contaminated individuals, South Korea relied on a combination of information, including operator data but also bank information or video recordings from surveillance cameras .

In mid-May, ten thousand people who went to a district of Seoul known for its nightclubs thus received an SMS from the Korean government, informing them of a potential contamination. All had passed through Itaewon, where a case of Covid-19 contamination had been detected. The country has also used electronic bracelets for infected people who have defied their mandatory quarantine. With its QR Code system, Korea intends to be even more reactive and impose it on gyms, karaokes or concert halls. All of this without causing undue debate.